The Brahmagiri Development Society (BDS), a people’s initiative in Wayanad, has joined hands with the Coffee Board to support small-scale coffee growers in the district, a major Robusta coffee growing region in the country.
The BDS recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Coffee Board for preparing a comprehensive business plan to promote coffee-based livelihoods in Wayanad.
“According to the Coffee Board, domestic coffee consumption has shown an annual growth of 8%. But the farming community is yet to benefit from it as the profit is pocketed by middlemen and international corporate giants,” P. Krishnaprasad, chairman, BDS, told The Hindu .
“Hence, we are planning to double the income of the coffee farmers in a time-bound manner by avoiding middlemen,” Mr. Krishnaprasad said.
Value addition
They are planning to execute a project in which the BDS would initiate a set of activities, including collective marketing and value addition, along the entire coffee value chain to increase the income of small-scale coffee growers.
Market study
The board, as the consultant, would conduct a comprehensive market study in south India on the feasibility and viability of the initiative and also specify the marketing strategy.
It would hand over the study to the BDS in a month.
The Kerala Chicken Project of the BDS was a huge success and it inspired us to enter into the new venture, he said.
A team of experts from the Coffee Board will interact with the coffee growers in Wayanad at Kattikulam on February 21 and 22.
State initiative
Meanwhile, the State government has initiated a three-pronged strategy, including selling coffee of Wayanad under the brand name ‘Malabar’ to support and double the income of coffee farmers in the district.
The State government allocated a budgetary provision of ₹150 crore to set up a KINFRA mega food park with KIIFB funding in the district.
